Library policy news from the American Library Association's Washington Office.

Author: Carrie Russell

Carrie Russell is the director of the Program on Public Access to Information in the Washington Office. Her portfolio includes copyright, international copyright, accessibility, e-books, and other public policy issues. She has an MLIS from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and an MA in media arts from the University of Arizona.

Creators who enter into publishing agreements are often asked to sign away their copyrights before anyone knows their worth and in circumstances where they have little choice but to acquiesce. In the U.S., statutory termination of transfer provisions allow creators to regain copyrights they signed away decades ago. With rights…

CopyTalk is back after its short summer hiatus with a new webinar. Lila Bailey from the Internet Archive and Professor Michelle Wu from Georgetown University will present controlled digital lending. In a time of limited resources, libraries are always seeking to maximize their reach with decreasing funds. One way to…

At long last, the U.S. Senate passed the Marrakesh Treaty Implementation Act (S. 2559) by unanimous consent in a business meeting held yesterday. Because the legislation makes modest amendments to Section 121 (“the Chafee Amendment”), the House Judiciary Committee must give their consent to the amended legislation before it goes…

To close out May as Senior Citizen month, we are highlighting a library that provides digital literacy training for older (and younger) adults. We know that older adults have been slower to adopt digital technology. Some do not realize how using the web, email, or social media might be helpful…

The Library Copyright Alliance – consisting of the American Library Association, the Association of College and Research Libraries, and the Association of Research Libraries – applauds today’s introduction of the Accessibility for Curators, Creators, Educators, Scholars, and Society Recordings Act (“ACCESS to Recordings Act”) by Senator Ron Wyden. The bill…